it’s come to my attention that i know enough people that hate Valentine’s Day that i feel the need to defend its honor year after year. i have been without a Valentine (in the true sense of the world) for 5 years now, and i can’t say i’m any worse for it. i’ve always been a fan of this chocolate-themed holiday. i can’t remember a february 14th without candy and cards and flowers, and the mere fact that they are gifts from family members and friends does not make me wish that they were, instead, from a boy. some of these presents were better than anything i ever got from a boy. silly boys 🙂

years ago when i was in college, i remember year being inspired to make a CD for one of my best friends full of songs to help celebrate the day. i don’t remember if it was a recent heartbreak or just another year of being single that i was trying to distract her from… most of the songs seemed to say “oh, you’ll find someone one day” or “love is out there, you just wait.” at the time i made this CD, i was, surprisingly, NOT single for the first time in, well, forever. i didn’t realized that CD was maybe something i was making for myself ten years in the future. not to say that i need reassurance that love will come to me (but thank you, Indigo Girls), but just to give myself a little hug with music. i am sure love will come to me in some form or fashion, and at some point. my impatience likes to believe otherwise, but either way, it’s no good reason to hate 2.14. let’s listen to amy & emily reassure us. all together now! this means you.

love that song!! Valentine’s Day may have been “created” by (or, in the very least, ceremonially adopted by) Hallmark, but in the end, this day should be about love, in general, not just about going to a fancy dinner or buying cards or flowers or candy. (however- i will not stop you, should you wish to take me out to a fancy dinner or buy me cards or flowers or candy!) love should be celebrated every day. i won’t lie; i don’t say “i love you” nearly enough to the people that actually matter in my life – my sweet family – but i am trying. and maybe this day is a helpful reminder that we should.

the other reason i love Valentine’s Day, besides celebrating the beautiful and fanciful thing called love, is, as i told someone earlier today, the fact that valentine’s is the first beautiful bright shining star of the year. january blows- it’s cold and awful and there are no holidays or anything to celebrate. and then- boom. pink, red, chocolate, hearts, LOVE. and the rest of the year is easy breezy. you’re welcome.

i hope you get to eat lots of chocolate and smell the roses that everyone else is getting today. i’m wearing red and cutting out paper hearts and plan on eating a shitload of chocolate and drinking some very good red wine while listening to amazing music later on today. celebrate yourself, if you don’t have anyone to do it for you. or i’ll dote on you, if you want. i love to dote. just say the word! chocolate for EVERYONE. we win!!

*VALENTINE’S CHEESE ALERT*
you are all special to me. have a great and love-filled jelly donut of a day!